Leitch was born in Burwood, Christchurch, New Zealand,[1] to a New Zealand father and a Fijian mother. He was raised in Christchurch where he attended St Bede's College.[1] In 2004, at the age of 15, he went to Sapporo Yamanote High School in Sapporo, Japan, as part of St Bede's school exchange program.[1][2]
After finishing school he attended Tokai University and in 2008 captained the Japan U20 team at the Junior World Championship. He became a Japanese national in 2013[3][4] and officially inverted his name in Japanese from Michael Leitch to Leitch Michael.
Club career
After the 2011 Rugby World Cup, he joined the Toshiba Brave Lupus in the Top League. In his first season he was named in the league's team of the season and given the award of "revelation of the season" at the end of the season awards.[5] He followed this up by being named in the team of the season for a second season in 2012/2013.[6]
He moved back to New Zealand after being named in the Hamilton-based Chiefs wider training squad for 2013,[7] but was denied the chance to play after breaking an arm. He got a second chance with the Chiefs, signing a contract with the side for the 2015 Super Rugby season.[8]
International career
He made his test match debut for Japan in 2008 against the USA in Nagoya aged 20, receiving a yellow card in that game for a dangerous tackle. He quickly established himself as a regular member of the national side. His first try came against Kazakhstan in April 2009.[9]
He impressed in the 2011 Rugby World Cup and was praised as one of Japan's best forwards,[10] winning 'man of the match' in the loss to Tonga,[11] where he scored a try and made a try-saving tackle on Siale Piutau.[12]
In his first match back from injury, playing for Japan against Fiji in June, he broke a leg. He was appointed Japan captain by coach Eddie Jones in April 2014, becoming the second New Zealand-born player to lead the Brave Blossoms after Andrew McCormick in the 1990s.[9] Leitch has spoken highly of Jones, saying in a 2019 interview that "Eddie helped me realise I am not Japanese... he is the one that reminded me I am from New Zealand and New Zealanders are not nice people... we're rough... That's probably the biggest piece of advice he has given me to take me from a good player to a better player."[13] Jones returned the compliment, praising him as a "good player and a great man"[14]
For the 2018 season, Leitch moved to the Sunwolves, the Japanese Super Rugby team. In November of that year, he scored against England at Twickenham Stadium. His side led 15–10 at half-time, but eventually lost 35–15.[16]
At the 2019 World Cup, when Japan were hosts, he led the victory over Ireland, ranked second in the world at that time,[17] and then defeated Scotland to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time ever.[18] Looking back on the tournament in 2023, the website RugbyPass labelled him as one of the players of the tournament, describing his leadership of the host nation's team as 'heroic'.[19]
There is a statue of Leitch in one of the communal parks in Tokyo. During the 2019 World Cup it was a popular place for fans to have their photos taken.
